RFK Jr. Blames Gun Violence on Antidepressants After Minneapolis School Shooting: 'We're Launching Studies' By Cara Lynn Shultz 38

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has blamed the church shooting in Minneapolis that killed two children and wounded 18 others on SSRIs, a type of antidepressant medication — but experts say those types of drugs are “not the problem.”

During an appearance on Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade asked Kennedy whether the government would look into medications that treat gender dysphoria in violent crimes, referencing Annunciation Catholic School shooter Robert Westman, who was assigned male at birth and legally changed their name as a teen to reflect a female identity, according to NBC.

Despite no confirmation by authorities that the shooter was taking psychiatric medication or SSRIs, Kennedy announced that the National Institute of Health was “launching studies on the potential contribution of some of the SSRI drugs and some of the other psychiatric drugs that might be contributing to violence.” 

“We can’t exclude those as a culprit,” Kennedy said, saying that some of the medication comes with “black box warnings that warn of suicidal ideation and homicidal ideation.”

Although some prescription drugs warn of risks of suicidal ideation, homicidal thoughts are not currently a warning on any SSRIs. And SSRIs are not commonly prescribed to help someone transition.

SSRI — short for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors — work by increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain. As the Cleveland Clinic explains, they’re the most commonly prescribed antidepressant, with more than 1 in 10 people taking them for conditions like depression and anxiety.

“All the data suggest SSRIs are not the problem,” Ragy R. Girgis,  a professor of clinical psychiatry at the Columbia University Department of Psychiatry and New York State Psychiatric Institute, told The Washington Post.

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Westman wrote in a journal about struggles with depression, per CNN. It hasn’t been confirmed whether or not the shooter, who turned the gun on himself after the murders, was on an SSRI. Westman had a history of interest in mass murderers and spoke out in praise of Adolf Hitler, Time reports, and had graduated from Annunciation Catholic School before opening fire on the children gathered there.

While mood disorders — the underlying reason to take an SSRI — are what cause violence and not the medication itself, one study found a “small group of patients” may become more violent while on the medication. Still, the study pointed out, “a large majority of SSRI-users will not experience the outcome of violent crime.”

Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith reacted to Kennedy’s statements in a blistering post on X, writing, “I dare you to go to Annunciation School and tell our grieving community, in effect, guns don’t kill kids, antidepressants do.”

“Just shut up. Stop peddling b——-. You should be fired.”

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